The process of automatically or semiautomatically mounting pneumatic tires onto rims is performed by various methods and machines. The procedure involves, among other aspects, the difficult procedure of completing the sealing of the tire against the rim in order that intermittent air injected into the tire does not escape between the bead of the tire and the tire rim. Moreover, there is the added problem of ensuring that the machine mounting arms do not become entangled between the tire rim and the tire bead during or just after the mounting process. Several other operational problems are of prime consideration in the employment of automatic tire mounting machines. Some tire mounting machines known in the art have been conceived and utilized to overcome these problems. As indicated hereinbelow, the pertinent machines known in the art have not been of sufficient capability and versatility to solve these problems.
There have been a myriad number of machines conceived and used for automatic tire mounting purposes. In this light, there have been a number of machines manufactured on which tire is temporarily stretched by automatic means so that it can fit around the circumferential extent of the rim, with said automatic stretching force then being released as the tire appropriately fits circumferentially onto the rim. This latter machine process simply and solely affixes the tire circumferentially onto the rim so that it is properly positioned for the next successive step, namely the injection of air into the space between the rim and the tire. Such machines are generally not fully automatic and involve the necessity of the mentioned separate steps, of mounting and inflating the tire. As a consequence of such a dual step arrangement, the costs of operation are relatively high.
The known machines in the prior art that automatically install tires around a rim are, as stated above, substantially varied; however, there does not exist in the prior art a machine which combines as a simultaneous operation the process of mounting the tire on the rim concurrently with the tire inflation procedure. Without known exception, all such automatic machines either are limited to the singular step of mounting the tire, with a separate machine required for the air injection process. On the other hand there are existing machines in which these two steps are separately consummated on a single machine having correspondingly separate functional stations. Clearly, if either a two-step machine is used, or alternately two machines used for these two respective steps, there would be a resultant problem of inefficiency in view of the additional time, energy, and manpower requirements to consummate these additional steps. Consequently, a machine which reduces these time and manpower requirements by combining the two separate steps of optimal mounting and pressurizing into a simultaneous operation would obviously yield significant savings in the overall procedure.
Yet another consideration that has proven to be a limitation in the known employment of automatic tire mounting machines is the aspect wherein mounting arms, in almost all known machines of the type herein, are positioned and structured such that they are juxtaposed above but between the tire rim and the bead of the tire. This positioning invariably causes difficulties in the tire mounting process and is undesirable from this perspective. Moreover, still another aspect of known automatic tire mounting machines is that such machines are generally equipped with mounting arms and working elements, for the precise mounting functions, that are not capable, by structure, is mounting tires on rims of variable shape, i.e. capable of mounting on both flanged and return flanged rims. Such limitations substantially restrict the flexibility of a tire mounting machine and impose limitations accordingly. The subject invention is conceived and adapted to solve the foregoing problems with a machine that is generally more versatile and flexible in automatic tire mounting operations for tire rims and tires of variable shapes and sizes. The following objects are directed accordingly.